Iowa crops doing well in most of the state

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey says the state entered July with the crops looking good despite some fields that need some rain.

“We have a lot of areas that look pretty good, but we do definitely have some dry area in parts of Iowa — especially across southern Iowa,” Northey says. The weekly U.S.D.A. crop report showed south-central and south-east Iowa had the lowest levels of topsoil moisture with two-thirds of the state short to very short.

There have been reports of the corn leaves curling in some places where the moisture is low. Northey says the hot days in the 90s will make the corn leaves curl and the soybeans will wilt a little bit. He says in the areas where it is not really dry the crops will be able to handle the heat.

Northey farms near Spirit Lake in northwest Iowa and got some of his corn in late due to wet conditions. “And it only made knee high by the Fourth of July, so we have spots that are drowned out and not very far away we have spots that are too dry,” according to Northey. ” For the most part when you look at the state, the crop looks good for this time of year.”

Northey says he’s only had a few reports of issues with the crops outside of the weather. He says he’s seen some soybean aphids being talked about as people get out and scout the fields. But he says there’s not been anything major. Northey says storm damage is one thing that could impact crops in July. He says the impact of storms is much like the impact of rain, as it can hit one field hard, but leave others untouched.